US-20260124765-A1 - ROBOT, ROBOT CONTROL METHOD AND RECORDING MEDIUM

US20260124765A1US 20260124765 A1US20260124765 A1US 20260124765A1US-20260124765-A1

Abstract

A robot that imitates a living thing and that is driven by a rechargeable battery. The robot includes a housing, an operator having a movable portion for causing a physical change in a state of the housing, and a processor. The processor is configured so that a control content of control executed by the operator when causing the robot to perform the breathing operation differs between (i) a charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation performed during charging of the battery and (ii) a non-charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation performed during non-charging of the battery. In the non-charging breathing operation, the movable portion is controlled to cause a physical displacement of the housing, and in the charging breathing operation, the movable portion is controlled to restrict the physical displacement of the housing to maintain a relative position between the robot and a charger.

Inventors

Hirokazu Hasegawa
Miyuki URANO
Erina Ichikawa

Assignees

CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20260107
Priority Date: 20220926

Claims (13)

1 . A robot that imitates a living thing and that is driven by a battery that is rechargeable, the robot comprising: a housing; an operator comprising a movable portion configured to cause a physical change in a state of the housing; and a processor configured to execute processes including controlling the operator to cause the robot to perform a breathing operation that is an operation imitating breathing of the living thing at a predetermined cycle, wherein: the processor is configured such that a control content of control executed by the operator when causing the robot to perform the breathing operation differs between (i) a charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation performed during charging of the battery and (ii) a non-charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation performed during non-charging of the battery, in the non-charging breathing operation, the processor controls the movable portion to cause a physical displacement of the housing, and in the charging breathing operation, the processor controls the movable portion to restrict the physical displacement of the housing such that a position of the robot relative to a charger is maintained.
2 . The robot according to claim 1 , further comprising: a power receiver which receives a power supply to charge the battery within a predetermined proximity to a power supply mounting surface of a charger, wherein the processes include: controlling the movable portion so that a distance between the power receiver and the power supply mounting surface changes in the non-charging breathing operation, and performing a proximity maintained control by controlling the movable portion to maintain a state in which the power receiver is within the predetermined proximity to the power supply mounting surface in the charging breathing operation.
3 . The robot according to claim 2 , further comprising: an exterior imitating fur that covers the housing, wherein the proximity maintained control includes periodically changing a pulling state of the exterior at a predetermined cycle while maintaining the state in which the power receiver is within the predetermined proximity to the power supply mounting surface.
4 . The robot according to claim 1 , wherein: the housing comprises a body having a front end and a head movable relative to the body, and in the non-charging breathing operation, the processor executes a first control that controls the movable portion so that the distance between the front end of the body and the mounting surface alternately changes between a first distance and a second distance by moving the head to change a state in which the head pushes against the mounting surface.
5 . The robot according to claim 4 , wherein in the non-charging breathing operation, the processor executes the first control in a manner that alternates repeatedly at a predetermined cycle between (i) a first operation of rotating the head to a lower reference angle that is an angle for making a state in which the front end of the body is raised from the mounting surface by the first distance by causing the head to push against the mounting surface and (ii) a second operation of rotating the head to a central reference angle that is an angle for making a state in which the distance between the front end of the body and the mounting surface is returned to the second distance that is shorter than the first distance in a state in which the front end of the body is not raised from the mounting surface.
6 . The robot according to claim 1 , wherein the processes include setting emotion data indicating a simulated emotion, changing a control content of the movable portion based on the set emotion data, and changing the emotion data in accordance with a remaining level of the battery.
7 . The robot according to claim 3 , wherein: the housing comprises a head and a body, the exterior includes a first engaging portion and a second engaging portion, the head includes a first engaged portion securing the first engaging portion to the head, the body includes a second engaged portion securing the second engaging portion to the body, and the exterior is engaged with the housing by engaging the first engaging portion with the first engaged portion and the second engaging portion with the second engaged portion.
8 . The robot according to claim 7 , wherein: the exterior includes an exterior protrusion within a first specific range from the first engaging portion, the head includes a head recess within a second specific range from the first engaged portion, and a position of the exterior protrusion is secured to a position of the head recess by inserting the exterior protrusion into the head recess.
9 . The robot according to claim 1 , further comprising: an external stimulus detector, wherein the processes include setting, based on an external stimulus detected by the external stimulus detector, emotion data indicating a simulated emotion, and changing the predetermined cycle based on the set emotion data.
10 . A robot control method executed by a processor of a robot that is driven by a battery that is rechargeable, the robot including the processor, a housing, and an operator which causes the robot to perform an operation simulating a living thing, the operator comprising a movable portion configured to cause a physical change in a state of the housing, and the method comprising: controlling the operator to cause the robot to perform a breathing operation that is an operation imitating breathing of the living thing at a predetermined cycle, wherein: in the controlling, a control content of control executed by the operator when causing the robot to perform the breathing operation differs between (i) a charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation performed during charging of the battery and (ii) a non-charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation performed during non-charging of the battery, in the non-charging breathing operation, the processor controls the movable portion to cause a physical displacement of the housing, and in the charging breathing operation, the processor controls the movable portion to restrict the physical displacement of the housing such that a position of the robot relative to a charger is maintained.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein: the robot further includes a power receiver which receives a power supply to charge the battery within a predetermined proximity to a power supply mounting surface of a charger, and the method further comprises: controlling the movable portion to cause the robot to move to perform the breathing operation; controlling the movable portion so that a distance between the power receiver and the power supply mounting surface changes in the non-charging breathing operation; and controlling the movable portion to maintain a state in which the power receiver is within the predetermined proximity to the power supply mounting surface in the charging breathing operation.
12 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program thereon, the program being executable by a processor of a robot that is driven by a battery that is rechargeable, the robot including the processor, a housing, and an operator which causes the robot to perform an operation simulating a living thing, the operator comprising a movable portion configured to cause a physical change in a state of the housing, and the program controlling the processor to execute processes including: controlling the operator to cause the robot to perform a breathing operation that is an operation imitating breathing of the living thing at a predetermined cycle, wherein: in the controlling, a control content of control executed by the operator when causing the robot to perform the breathing operation differs between (i) a charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation performed during charging of the battery and (ii) a non-charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation performed during non-charging of the battery, in the non-charging breathing operation, the processor controls the movable portion to cause a physical displacement of the housing, and in the charging breathing operation, the processor controls the movable portion to restrict the physical displacement of the housing such that a position of the robot relative to a charger is maintained.
13 . The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 12 , wherein: the robot further includes a power receiver which receives a power supply to charge the battery within a predetermined proximity to a power supply mounting surface of a charger, and the processes include: controlling the movable portion to cause the robot to move to perform the breathing operation; controlling the movable portion so that a distance between the power receiver and the power supply mounting surface changes in the non-charging breathing operation; and controlling the movable portion to maintain a state in which the power receiver is within the predetermined proximity to the power supply mounting surface in the charging breathing operation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. Application No. 18/242,527, filed September 6, 2023, which is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-152956, filed September 26, 2022, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure relates to a robot, a robot control method, and a recording medium. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Techniques have been developed to provide robots with a sense of a living thing in such a way that the robots can imitate something users feel affection for, such as friends and pets. For example, Patent Literature 1 (Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-123074) discloses a technique for expressing a sense of a living thing by performing a "rendering during charging" such as causing a robot to act as if sleeping while charging, and performing a "rendering after charging" such as outputting theme music when charging is completed to produce a condition in which the robot recovers energy. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aspect of a robot according to the present disclosure is a robot that imitates a living thing and is driven by a battery that is rechargeable, the robot including: an operator to cause the robot to perform an operation that imitates a living thing; and a controller, wherein the controller: causes the robot to perform a breathing operation that is an operation imitating breathing of a living thing at a predetermined cycle; and differentiates a control content of the operator between a charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation during charging of the battery and a non-charging breathing operation that is the breathing operation during non-charging of the battery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS A more complete understanding of this application can be obtained when the following detailed description is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of a robot according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view orthogonal to the left-and-right direction of the robot according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view orthogonal to the up-and-down direction of the robot according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the robot according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an emotion map according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control content table according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of robot control processing of the robot according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of breathing imitation processing of the robot according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a non-charging breathing operation of the robot according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 10 is another diagram illustrating a non-charging breathing operation of the robot according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a charging breathing operation of the robot according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 12 is another diagram illustrating a charging breathing operation of the robot according to Embodiment 1; and FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of end-of-charge operation processing of the robot according to Embodiment 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The following describes embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or equivalent components of the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals. Embodiment 1 The robot 200 according to Embodiment 1 is a pet robot that imitates a small animal as illustrated in FIG. 1. In order to facilitate understanding, FIG. 1 denotes the directions of front, back, left, and right. The following description proceeds with reference to these directions as necessary. The robot 200 is provided with two eye-like decorative members 202 on the front side. Also, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the robot 200 includes a housing 207 and an exterior 201 having flexibility to cover the housing 207. The exterior 201 has a large number of fuzzy hairs 203 that imitate fur. Note that, in FIGS. 2 and 3, hatching patterns are omitted in view of facilitating visibility of the drawings. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 207 of the robot 200 includes a head 204, a joint 205, and a body 206 where the joint 205 couples the back end of the head 204 and the front end (front side) of the body 206. The body 206 extends in the front-and-back direction, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The body 206 is in contact, via the exterior 201, with a mounting surface, such as a floor or a table, on which the robot 200 is placed. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a twist motor 221 is provided at the front end of the body 206, and the head 204 is coupled to the front end of the body 206 via